Combination lock



June 3o, 1925. 1,544,454

E. J. HARDGRAVE COMBINATION LOCK v med Nov.V 50,' 1925 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented June 30, 1925.

UNH'EDv STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EVERETT J. HABDGRAVE, OF SAN ANGELO', TEXAS.

To all whom it may conce/m.'

Be it known that I, Eviiniirr J. HARD- Gnawi, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sail Green and certain new and useful Improvements in Combination Locks; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the i same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention relates to a keyless or comvbiiiation lock operable by pressing a series Cil of tumblers in proper sequence so as to permit the sliding of a reciprocating member which may be abolt, an electrical contact member, or a simple stop member. The principal object ofthe present invention is to provide a simple and efficient lock of the character described. A furtherv object of the invention is to provide a simple vmechanismy for preventing access to the mounting screws when the that can be convenientlyv operated by the thumb'and the vfour lingers of one hand.

lVhile the lock is of general utility and will probably find itsprincipal success in a control for the ignition and'lighting system I, of an automobile, for convenience and simplicityv of illustration the lock is shown in its simplest form, the sliding member as.

illustrated being a bolt for aV closet door.

Inthe drawings, Figure 1 isa side elevation of the. lock i partly broken'away and showing the bolt in locked position. 1?. 2 l i ig. is an enc shown in Fig. 1.

Fig..3 is a view similar to that shown in,v

Fig. 1, but illustrating the mechanism in unlocked position.

Fig. f1 is an end view shown in Fig. 3. s f

Fig. 5 is a top lan view with the top of the'casing omitte 'of the device as Angelo, in the county of Tom. State of Texas, have invented device is in closed position while permitting ready access to such screws elevation of the device asl COMBINATION LOCK.

Application led November 30, 1923. Serial No. 677,872.

yFig. 6 is a side elevation of oneof thek 55 Fig. 7 isa section vtaken on the linek7--7 tumblers withits positioning slide.

to the main portion of the back and having a small downturned retaining lip to be received within the groove 16 lformedby the upturnedflange 17 of the casing 18.

The'casing 18 -has the usual side flanges,` I

20 and a topflange 21 having a lip 22 eX- tending 'the entire width 'of the lock andv engaging thelgroove formed by the offsetting Vof the upper portion of the back 10, thus preventing downward movement of the casing with respect to the back. Y v

A plurality of short shaftsshown in the drawings asfour inknumber are secured to the casing 18 andthe back 1 0, the axes of all four being parallel to one another and lying in the same plane. each numbered 25 in the drawings are not rotatable, but the fourth shaft 26 isrotatable andprojects somewhat beyond the casing l18 so as'l to receive a short handle 27 adapted to 4be moved by the .thumb of the operator. 0n",v this `shaft 26 is mounted a tumbler in the shape of a sector 5 secured thereto and in addition a second tumbler or sector 1 which' is rotatable about the aXis of the shaft 26, receiving its motion through a positioning'slide 311 having a pivotal connection with the tumbler 1, this slide'being guided by va slot 82 in the forwardly rprojecting `flange 14 of the back 10. his mechanism may best be seen in Fig. 4.- and while the following description is particularly directed to tumbler 1 the descriptionis equally appropriate to the tumblers 2, 3 and 4i; vtumbler 5, Vas previously stated, differing'in that it is fast to the shaft l26 and is operated by moving the handle 27.

The slide 31 has a lug '33 projectingy through an orifice 34 forminga pivotal connection-'with the tumbler and also serving Three of these shafts to support slide 31 when the tumbler 1 is in its lowermost position where it rests by gravity, .the lock in the very simple form shown having no springs of any kind.. The lower end of the slide 31 which v-projects through the flange 14 is bent to form a iingerpiece f 36 Vwhich the operator presses upw'ard'tou cause rotation of thetumbler about its pivot 26. The outer portion 37 of the tumbler 'is securedV to the hub or pivot portion byA means of arms 38 and .39 so. as to forman opening in the central portion of the tumi bler. The outer vedge 40 of the tumbler is i* preferably a true arc having the distance of the pivotal axis/ofA the tumbler as'itsradius. A projection 41 projects from the v arc-shaped periphery40` and serves to :position the tumbler in the setting of the look.

' The 'slot 42 communicates with the open n bolt 45.

pivot of the respective tumbler, the radii therefore of these tumblers increasing from left to right as seen in Fig. 1. *From theforegoing itwwill be apparent that when Vthe tumblers are in `any position they will f have Vtheir varcs at the same distance from the'shaft- 26 measured'in the plane of theV four shafts.

A second point -of difference is the provisionbf longer projections on the tumblers 2, and 4, these projections, being numbered 48 in the drawings and extending at rightangles to the main portion ofthe tumbler andextending `to within a short disl Vtance of the bolt 45, each of these longer land L-shaped projections being positioned verynear the lower end of the tumbler in order that anyone of thetumblers may be raised from its lowest to its highest posi-l tion'without touching the similar projecf tions 48 on the other tumblers, this beingV possible due to the differentrradii of the tumblers.

--IVhile ,Il have shown the projections l41 an d 48 as integral with the tumblers it will be understood by those familiar with the art that these projections may be separate pieces and be adjustably mounted on` the tumblers so as to provide the owner with l a readyineans of altering the combination when desired. I prefer, however, to makev the projections integral with the `tumblers and to alter the combination by the substitution of aV complete tumbler, thus permitting; the use of a much narrower lock casing.

,as Thepositions of the slots 42 in order to get the diiferentcombinations,

deviceis shown in .unlocked may be altered and if desired a number of additional nicks or shallow notches 49 may be cut along the inner edges of the portions 37 to avoid the possibility7 of aligning the-slots by feeling with-a slight. pressure on the bolt. The bolt 45 is, as usual, mounted in proximity to the back 10 and` projects beyond one of the side flanges rof they casing inV open position and to the other side when in closed or locked position. In Fig. 3 the position with the bolt extending to the time the' shelf 44'of the bolt slot 42 of each one of the Vlive tumblers, these slots 42 being in registry and time-in substantial alig'fnmentl In the reciprocate the Vbolt 45 and remove the-shelf 44 from engagement with thefive tumblers,

their lowermostposition. l .v A safety catch is loosely pivoted to the casing 18 as at 56 and normallyrests upon the Aflange 14, having an intermediatebowed` po`rtionj57` engaging such flange, thefiat portion 'of this catchY near thel vlying vat this j with the four f shafts. *The bolt` in Ytheform shown is not springepr'essed, but is: manually' controlledi by means'ofa handle 50 mounted 'on an arm 51 integral with or secured tof the bolt 45 passing through a slot `r52 in the casinglSQV j position shown the,4 handle 50- may be moved to the right ywhich action will lefty at which n 'iswithinthe V'9'0 Y allowing the latter to drop ,by Vgravity. to j?V ivotl end", l

however, lying entirely to one lslde of the flange 14. At its yfree Vend the catch 5 5V has a head 58 which just clears the arm.

51 as the latter moves from side to Side.

This head 58 as shown in Fig. 3` lies en tirelyfto one `side (tothe right) of the arm 51 so that-the catch'55. may be freelyturned about its.'pivot, the. partsshown in. 'tliis'giire beingv as previouslystatedy in When, however, thel unlocked position.

arm 51 is moved to. the right to :throw the i bolt into lockedposition the arm. 5l lies4 immediately abovethe head 58 andpre-; vents all movement of 'the catchf55. v Referring now to Fig. 7 :it will be'seen'that the casing18 can be removed from the yback v 10 only byjraising the yflange ,l41sogthat the lip" 15 lmay clear theupturned end-17v of the casing 18. When the bolt is inune locked position as shown infFig. 3 the flange; 14 may easily be raised sincefthe catch 551 will turn freely aboutits pivot, but when the bolt 45 isfinv locked'position the liange 14 cannot be raised at rall .since the offset portion 57 of the catch engages the end of the flange 14 and the arm 51 of the bolt,

engages the head 58 of the catch thus making .it impossible to remove Vthe casinglS in order to tamper with the lock or to remove the mounting screws 12.

, The operation of the device is as follows;

With the partsy as shown in Fig. 3 the bolt 45 may be moved to theright by means of thehandle 50, this action moving the bolt to locked position with the arm` 51 of the bolt immediately above the head 58 of the catch. ln so moving the bolt the shelf 44 moves from within the aligned slots 42 of the live tumblers and these tumblers drop by gravity to their lowermost positions. It is now possible to unlock the bolt without knowing the combination, since movement to the left of the bolt will be prevented by the shelf 44 coming into contact with the inner edges of the portions 37 of the tumblers. The correct combination to open the lock shown in the drawings is 4, 1, 8, 5, 2. By raising the tumbler 4 until it strikes the top flange 21 of the casing the slot 42 will be brought into correct registry, the L-shaped projection 48 on this tumbler lying somewhat above the plane of the top of the shelf 44. By next raising tumbler 1, the projection 41 on this tumbler will engage the L-shaped projection 48 on tumbler 4 and will correctly positioni the slot of tumbler 1. It might be here noted that the fingerpiece controlling tumbler 4 may now be released since by holding the iingerpiece of tumbler 1, tumbler 4 will be held in contact with the top flange 21. Tumbler 3 is now raised by the ingerpiece 36 of its slide 31 until its L-shaped projection 48 comes into contact with the projection 41 on the tumbler 1. Tumbler 5 is now raised by means of the handle 27 until its short projection 41 `contacts with the projection 48 on tumbler 3. By now raising tumbler 2 until its projection 48 engages the projection 41 on tumbler 5 all of the slot-s 42 will be found in registry and the bolt 45' may now be shot to the left to unlock the device. It will be noted that but one. tumbler at a time may be pressed upward, owing to the interference of the projections one with another. the correct sequence being the key to the combination.

This is a substitute application for an application heretofore filed by applicant, Serial No. 536,171.

What I claim is:

1. A combination lock characterized by the. provision of a. sliding bolt and a series of tumblers mounted on independent and parallel axes said tumblers having recesses therein adapted to be brought into registry with each other by movement transversely of the line of movement of the bolt.

2. A combination lock characterized by the provision of a sliding bolt and a series of tumblers mounted onl independent and parallel axes, said axes all lying in a single plane said tumblers having recesses therein adapted to be brought into registry with each other by movement transversely of the line of movement of the bolt.

3. A combination lock characterized by the provision of a sliding bolt and a plurality of tumblers mounted on independent and parallel axes, an adjustable tumbler having its pivot coaxial with one of said first mentioned tumblers, and a plurality of means each individual to a single tumbler for setting the lock said tumblers having recesses therein adapted to be brought into registry with each other by movement transversely of the line of movement of the bolt.

4. A combination lock characterized by the provision of a plurality of sector shaped tumblers of varying radii and cooperating projections on said tumblers. Y

5. A combination lock characterized by the provision of three manually operated sectors, each of said sectors having a radial slot and a single projection on its arc-shaped periphery said projection being arranged to support one another when the sectors are in unlocking position.

6. A combination lock characterized by the provision of 'a plurality of independently mounted finger operated tumblers mounted on independent parallel axes lying inthe same plane, and a thumb operated tumb-ler having its pivot coaxial with one of ther first mentioned tumblers and positioned to coi-operate with said finger operated tumblers.

7. In a combination lock, a. reciprocating member, a back having a locking lip, a casing having aY member engaging said locking lip, a safety catch pivoted to said casing and normally engaging a portion of said back in proximity to said lip, and means ca 1ried by said reciprocating member for preventing movement of said catch when said reciprocating member is at one limit of its travel.

8. 1n a combination lock, a bolt havin-gv a plurality7 of laterally ext-ending projections, a plurality of sequence operated tumblers each having a slot adapted to be brought into registry with one of said projections, a detachable casing, a lever pivoted to said casing, said lateral projection on the bolt lying in the path of movement of said lever' when the bolt is in. locked position to prevent removal of the casing.

9. In a. combination lock, a bolt having a laterally extending shelf, a plurality of tumblers each having an arcuate portion limiting the movement of said shelf, each of said arcuate members having a slot therein adapted to be brought into registry with the line of movement of said shelf, and a plurality of parallel position-ing slides each slide being pivoted to one of said tumblers.

10. A combination lock characterized by the provision of four independently mounted tumblers, a slide pivoted to each of said tumblers, a fifth tumbler, and a lever for j 

